Glider-recliner (glider) and rocker-recliner (rocker) chairs are generally well known in the furniture industry. The terms glider and rocker are used throughout this description to describe articles of furniture that include a reclining mechanism, either with a glider feature or with a rocking feature. Generally rockers are chairs that allow the user to rock as well as recline and are equipped with extendable footrests. Rockers are often in the form of a plush chair, however, they might also take the form of an oversized seat, a seat-and-a-half, a love seat, a sofa, a sectional, and the like. Gliders are chairs that allow the user to reciprocate back-and-forth in a gliding motion. Gliders and rockers are known in both a manual configuration (where the user releases the mechanism from closed to TV, and moves the mechanism from TV to full recline) and a motorized version (where a motor is used to move the mechanism between the various positions).
The reclining motion is achieved in rocker and glider chairs with a linkage mechanism that is coupled to the base and/or a rocker or glider mechanism. The linkage mechanisms found in rockers and gliders in the art include a plurality of interconnected links that provide one or more mechanisms for extending a footrest, reclining the chair, and obstructing movements of the chair when in specific orientations. Typically, rockers and gliders known in the art provide three positions: an upright seated position with the footrest retracted beneath the chair, a television viewing or TV position in which the chair back is slightly reclined but still provides a generally upright position with the footrest extended, and a full-recline position in which the chair back is reclined an additional amount farther than in the TV position but still generally inclined with respect to the seat of the chair and with the foot rest extended. For rockers, the chair is permitted to rock when in the closed position, and for gliders, the chair is permitted to glide when in the closed position.
These types of prior art recliner mechanisms, while functional, suffer from a number of drawbacks. One of which includes a problem known as shirt pull. Shirt pull occurs as the user reclines the back of the chair, and the chair back rotates back, but also away from the seat, increasing the distance between the bottom of the back cushion and the back of the seat cushion. This movement not only results in shirt pull, but also removes support from the lower lumbar area of the user seated in the chair. This motion is caused by a back bracket pivot point that is typically below and behind the point where the chair back cushion and the seat cushion meet. It would be desirable to provide a rocker and/or glider (whether manual or powered) having a back pivot point projected to as close as possible to the point at which the bottom of the back cushion and the back of the seat cushion meet.
Further, rockers and gliders typically have different linkage configurations resulting in different parts for gliders versus rockers. It would be desirable to share as many parts as possible between rockers and gliders from a manufacturing standpoint.
In power rockers and gliders, the motor is typically connected to the front ottoman link to drive the chair from closed, to TV to full-recline positions. This connection results in the motor traveling in an arcuate motion, and raises the motor near the bottom of the seat. It would be desirable to provide a motorized glider and rocker that allowed the motor to be mounted lower, and maintained lower throughout its movement, as well as to travel in a more-linear motion.